An interactive session with author Novoneel Chakraborty
(Image courtesy: Debopriya Roy)
The popular romantic thriller writer, Novoneel Chakraborty, was once again in town. The occasion was the launch of his latest novel ‘Marry Me, Stranger’ (Book 1 of The Stranger Trilogy). It was held on 28th November 2014 at the Oxford Bookstores in Kolkata. Author and poet Arindam Dey was also there at the event. Excerpts from his fun-filled interactive session with his readers:
Inspiration behind “Marry Me, Stranger”
Taking about the inspiration behind his new novel, Chakraborty said, “The idea struck me when I was talking to a reader and she was telling me her relationship problems. When I asked her why was she telling me all this she said I was a stranger and she knew well I won’t judge her. The idea was born out of there but the title ‘Marry Me, Stranger’ I had from a long time now”.
Why Trilogy?
About attempting a trilogy he reflected, “I knew if made it one single novel it would be too thick for a general commercial fiction consumer. Hence, I broke it down into three rather normal length novels”.
Trilogy vs a Novel
When quizzed compared to a novel, how difficult is it to write a trilogy, he observed, “The major problem is somewhere the flow breaks with every book in the series and you need to build and rebuild the flow with every new book”.
Quotation
Those who are familiar with his earlier books know that Chakraborty uses a lot of self-composed motivational quotations. So, a reader wished to know about his source of inspiration. The author said with a smile, “As a creative person I keep on seeing and observing things. I love to think about things and the quotes are my interpretations. I just hope they keep coming”.
Creativity
Chakraborty emphasized that a creative person should not be rigid. He observed, “As a creative person, you should be soft and malleable. The moment you are rigid, you would be reflecting in your story. There always is a world beyond us, we must explore that.”
Toughest Character Portrayal
When asked about his toughest character portrayal till date he confessed that shaping Neel for the book ‘Ex’ was not easy. “Neel was a coward. It’s not very easy to write such a character. Moreover, he had my half name so people started assuming that he is inspired by me. I had started to hate myself” he shared with a wink.
Regret
Talking about his regret, Chakraborty admitted that he could have written his second novel better. He said, “I think I could have written ‘That Kiss in the Rain’ much better. I completed the book in two months. Ironically, the novel is one of the best sellers but I am not going to repeat that pace of writing again.”
Writing in Bengali
When quizzed if he would ever try writing in his mother tongue he answered, “If I had that grip in Bangla I would definitely have tried writing in this language. I am a Probashi Bengali so I was more exposed to English and Hindi.” He also declared that if he knew Bangla well he wouldn’t have touched English.
Reading and Writing Tips
Chakraborty had a few tips for the budding authors. His first suggestion was that one should not run after the ‘best-selling’ tag, instead focus on the content. He says that at the end of the day the content matters to the readers most.
Being a commercial writer he feels that the content quality of this genre is often not up to the mark. He added “Don’t just select a book on the hype. Research about an author and then read his book”.
Talking about his writing style, Chakraborty shared, “I write in two phases. Firstly I write with my heart and then observe where to chop it out”.
Speaking about the word-count of a commercial novel, he advised that 70,000 is ideal but 60-65,000 also works.
Other Novels by Novoneel Chakraborty
His other books are “Ex”, “How About a Sin Tonight?”, “That Kiss in the Rain” and “A Thing Beyond Forever”. No doubt, by penning down such love stories with a thriller angle, he has made a permanent place in the hearts of his readers.
Few Interesting facts about Novoneel Chakraborty
The author has a peculiar habit of looking at people’s faces and imagining their stories. He thinks it’s a nice imagery exercise.
The author was immensely attached to his Grandfather. He feels that his late grandfather expresses his stories through him.
His first short story was “He died that night”.
Travel, Food, and More 
Nice to know Novoneel the writer, a bit by this article. Helpful tips though for all readers and witers as well.
Thank you Jayita 🙂
I am waiting for 3rd series in Stranger Triology , when it is going to be released?? . I can’t wait after reading 2 series of Stranger Triology.
Hey Sanju, I have no idea about the release date and I am also eagerly waiting for the series. The books are very gripping….have you read his other books like “a thing beyond forever” and “Ex”? These two books are equally captivating.